(lots of spoilers)

Oh, Laurell, how could you disappoint me so?

I'm a long time Anita Blake fan - admittedly her earlier ones more so than the last 10. Her series got so BAD for a while there, and the last few gave me hope again. And then this one... I have no words to express how I feel about this book.

First of all - opening with a ballet scene? Really? I mean, Anita doesn't like to dance, so sure, start with a ballet scene. What did that have to do with anything?? Except to talk about how a little kid likes Anita so much... that's just creepy & sad.

Lots of repeating info - I realize every book in every series does this, but LKH just seems like she takes this to new heights.

And once again - way, way too many characters that you can't keep up with (or care about, or even want to care about), too much kinky sex (and new levels of sex), no plot... no real action (other than said sex)... and of course, the death of a character that COULD have made future books interesting. I personally didn't like Haven... but he was what Anita needed, what LKH needed to make this series interesting again.